FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT BASEBALL BAT - PAGE 5

A Bethlehem man pleaded guilty yesterday in Northampton County Court to hitting another man with a baseball bat in West Easton in May. Stephen Allen Cope, 28, of 1043 Essex Court, entered a negotiated guilty plea to aggravated assault before President Judge Alfred T. Williams Jr. Additional charges of recklessly endangering another person, possession of a prohibited offensive weapon, and summary offenses were dropped. Williams ordered a pre-sentence evaluation on Cope. Cope and another man were charged with beating Paul Schluter with a baseball bat on May 23 in a parking lot in West Easton.

An Emmaus man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly assaulting a woman with a baseball bat. Police said Leroy Ingram, 60, of 140. S. Third St., was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment after a domestic dispute at his residence. Ingram was formally charged at the Lehigh County central booking center and committed to Lehigh County Prison. -- Scott Kraus

By Jay Richards Special to The Morning Call -- Freelance | December 2, 2004

A Phillipsburg man was indicted Wednesday on burglary and aggravated assault charges by the Warren County grand jury. Joseph J. Segarra, 48, of 29 Lewis St.was indicted on two counts of second-degree burglary, two counts of terroristic threats, two counts of third-degree aggravated assault, one count of fourth-degree aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon and contempt of court. On Feb. 27, Segarra broke into Dawn Crocie's home in Washington, N.J., armed with an aluminum baseball bat that he used to threaten and injure Lino Ortega, who was in the house, according to court documents.

A $1,200 debt over a methamphetamine deal sparked two Feb. 15 baseball bat attacks, the victim of the attacks testified yesterday. Jeffrey J. Hill, 28, of Vera Cruz identified Frank Seri, 36, of Pennsauken, N.J., as his attacker during a hearing before District Justice Charles Burdette. Hill's girlfriend, Judith Polster, 24, also of Vera Cruz, is charged with criminal attempt at homicide in connection with the shooting of Seri, who was shot as he was about to strike Hill during a second attack.

A Walnutport woman and her boyfriend pleaded guilty Thursday to charges filed after the 2007 baseball bat attack of a man in a Slatington parking lot. Jason Issermoyer, 25, of Whitehall Township, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault as a second-degree felony in the July 5 attack of Jon Berger Jr. in a lot behind the Moose Lodge at 716 Main St. Issermoyer's girlfriend, Tiffany Magliane, 25, of 202 S. Railroad St., pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge...

A Schuylkill County man who confessed to using a baseball bat to beat to death his estranged wife in 2006 asked a judge Tuesday to overturn his first-degree murder conviction, saying his lawyer -- who persuaded him to have a trial without a jury -- was ineffective. Jeffrey Lee Zimmerman, 48, formerly of Orwigsburg, also said attorney James Conville failed to file an appeal of the sentence in time, causing the state Superior Court in March to reject it. But Conville testified Tuesday that Zimmerman in open court told a judge and signed a document saying he agreed to the defense strategy of having the bench trial, rather than a jury trial, that resulted in his May 2007 conviction in the death of Cindy Zimmerman, 44, of Orwigsburg.

By Manuel Gamiz Jr. and Bill Tattersall Of The Morning Call | December 23, 2003

Richele Abraham went to a baby shower and then Christmas shopping Sunday afternoon with her mother and sister while her 56-year-old boyfriend lay dead in their bed in their Bethlehem apartment. Police said Monday that Abraham killed him. Abraham, 50, of 12 E. North St., told police she picked up a "heavy object," later identified as an aluminum baseball bat, and hit Dennis Wampole Sr. and then crawled into bed with him, thinking he was knocked unconscious, according to a probable cause affidavit.

A Lehigh County Prison inmate is being sued by two Bethlehem policemen whom he attacked and injured with a baseball bat last summer. The defendant, Nelson Ramos of 1908 Gatewood Lane, Bethlehem, is serving a 12-36 month sentence after pleading guilty to aggravated assault charges in the attack on the policemen. He went to jail last month. Separate suits were filed in the Lehigh County Courthouse yesterday by Atty. John F. Hayes II of Bethlehem, on behalf of Policemen Timothy E. Stephens and Scott G. Parry.

A Northampton County prosecutor said Monday an Easton man is lucky he only got a fractured hand in a baseball bat attack in a Lower Nazareth Township movie theater. Marc Wilson, 31, was at a late showing of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" on June 19 at the Regal Cinemas when Julio R. LaSalle of Monroe County came into the theater and swung an aluminum bat at Wilson's head, First Deputy District Attorney Paula A. Roscioli said. Wilson was resting his head on his right hand and the bat struck him on his hand and wrist, resulting in two fractures, police said.